In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, we want to introduce you to the women behind Sophia Rose. Adelene and Carolyn Tan are reinventing wireless intimates so all women, whether they’ve had a mastectomy, reconstruction, have their natural breasts, or anything else in between, can wear a wireless bra they love.

From the moment we met these empowering women, we fell in love with their story, their passion for making a difference, and their entrepreneurial drive. The Sophia Rose products and brand embodies femininity, beauty, and confidence, and now more than ever, we are proud to carry their signature wireless lace bra.

What was the motivation behind creating, Sophia Rose, the company?

We were inspired to create Sophia Rose because of our mom’s lingerie shopping experience after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012 and underwent a mastectomy. Not only was lingerie shopping really alienating, but the few options she had were plain, utilitarian and downright uncomfortable. We realized that there were other breast cancer survivors in the same situation, and we wanted to create an innovative, wireless, intimates brand. Our goal was to design gorgeous products that could not only be worn by breast cancer survivors, but also by women who were looking for a beautiful and comfortable wireless bra.

Young Adelene and Carolyn with their mother.

Why the name “Sophia Rose”?

We get that question a lot and no, Sophia Rose isn’t our mom’s name. Good guess though! While our mom was our biggest inspiration, she wasn’t the only woman we had in mind when creating our brand. Sophia Rose is the personification of what we believe makes women beautiful: strength, intelligence, courage, and grace.

Our goal was to design gorgeous products that could not only be worn by breast cancer survivors, but also by women who were looking for a beautiful and comfortable wireless bra.

We get it, there’s no business like the bra business. How do you differentiate yourself in a multi-billion dollar market?

At Sophia Rose, thought and empathy infuse the creation of our bras. A bra is such a personal piece for every woman – especially a breast cancer survivor and we have designed our bras with the utmost care. We have taken the time to truly understand what women are looking for in a wireless bra and crafted our bra to not only look beautiful, but feel comfortable. Sophia Rose is first and foremost dedicated to inspiring women to feel confident and radiant; we want to get to know all the women who wear our bra. It is our commitment to this mission that sets us apart.

The Sophia Wireless Lace bra

Sophia Rose is almost 4 years old. How do you see your brand evolving over the next few years?

We want Sophia Rose to continue to show the market that lingerie that caters to the needs of breast cancer survivors doesn’t have to be plain, matronly or beige. We also have plans for product expansion. We’re launching a “get well” gift box in October that can be purchased for anyone who is in need of a pick me up, and of course, we have plans to expand our bra styles in a wider range of fabrics and sizes!

Sophia Rose is the personification of what we believe makes women beautiful: strength, intelligence, courage and grace.”

What is your biggest success so far with Sophia Rose?

Having breast cancer survivors tell us how much our product means to them. It is why we started Sophia Rose, and it makes all the late nights and hard work totally worth it!

What advice can you give to female entrepreneurs?

Persevere, trust your instincts, believe in yourself, and surround yourself with people you enjoy working with! There will be extreme highs and lows. You will make mistakes, but it will make those successes even more amazing. You just need to keep on going, even when everything seems like it is falling apart. That conviction and drive is what you need to succeed.

peach is about highlighting strong women and helping them uncover their inherent strengths everyday. Through our relationships with our friends, family, stylists, and yes, our bras, we will experience tremendous amounts of support that will make us stronger, compassionate and resilient women. If you want to be a part of our movement, click here to learn more about the stylist opportunity.